Gov. Pedro Pierluisi: ‘Puerto Rico will be the first truly Hispanic state’

[Dill]

(03-12-2021, 08:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Quote:For the record, I have indeed been saying the GOP behaves like a regime party for over a year now, punishing anyone who deviates from a Trump/McConnell orthodoxy. And I have done that without resort to hyperbole.

Great, although this has nothing to do with any point I made.

You did say I would resort to hyperbole--"Nazis and bloody murder"--if the Republicans were doing what the Dems.  I was responding to dispute this:

(03-12-2021, 04:13 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: More talking points.  Mentioning hot button issues like slavery does not impress me as an argument and is a clear appeal to emotion.  Using terms like super minority do not impress me as an argument and is a clear attempt to denigrate the Senate as designed.  As stated in my post, which you didn't even bother trying to refute, the Dems have routinely, of late, complained about the rules when things didn't go their way and then sought to change them to their benefit.  You don't mind because you fall in line with them ideologically.  Anyone who deviates from their party orthodoxy should be concerned as it exposes a clear willingness to change any rules they like to achieve their goals. I have a feeling if the GOP was doing this you'd be comparing them to Nazis or screaming bloody murder.

I am saying the GOP IS "doing this" and not the Dems. They are doing exactly that for which you say I would be "comparing them to Nazis or screaming bloody murder."  But of course, I have not made that comparison; you are the only one talking about "Nazis." i.e., talking about something that hasn't happened.

Dems complain when "things don't go their way" when the "things" happen to involve violations of legal and constitutional principles and norms. As when a Republican minority blocks legislation which would pass with a simple majority vote, or as when Trump refused to acknowledge he had lost an election and tried to block the peaceful transfer of power. Yes, the Dems "complain" when rules and norms are flouted.

(03-12-2021, 08:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: [b]Quote:[/b]However can you attribute to Dems some illiberal obeisance to "party orthodoxy" while the ex-GOP president is, even out of office, using his party's machinery to punish and eliminate those who voted against him--so far without effective pushback?  Or after Senate Republicans acquitted him twice on impeachment charges? And reneged on statements holding Trump accountable for the insurrection for fear of losing their seats? And after eight years of NO! under Obama, and not a single Repub signature on the ACA or the just signed COVID Relief bill?  

Wait, is this a both sides do it argument from you?  How interesting.  Tell you what, you want to discuss that we can discuss that.  But it's a separate issue.  GOP abuses in no way excuse or ameliorate Dem abuses.  You really come off as trying to obfuscate here.

No, definitely NOT saying "both sides do it."   I am saying your description of the Democrats here fits the Republicans, not the Democrats.  I agree Republican abuses should not "excuse" Dem abuses. I am just disagreeing with your characterization of Dems as somehow the party of "abuses" and "orthodoxy" and all that.  Like Dems are the party of power grab, not the party whose president tried to block a peaceful and legal transfer of power, and whose Senators then let him off scot free, for a second time in one year, because their Senators fearfully fell in line. 

While I have listed many GOP "abuses," you really haven't come up with one for the Dems--except they are changing a "rule" you haven't really specified, and which might re-aligning current Senate practice with its Constitutional origins. 

You seem to think blocking a supreme court nominee a year away from election on the grounds we need to wait for the voters to speak, and then pushing one forward the month before an election because the people have spoken, is not a "power grab" because it isn't "changing rules."  So I am not clear on what really counts as a power grab for you, as Republicans seem exempt from the charge regardless of their behavior.  Can you specify the rule change you think is a power grab, and explain how it contravenes Constitutional principle? Don't discuss motives; explain the principle.